


Absolutely Smitten

by peachtint



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Friends with Benefits, M/M, Not Beta Read, fwb!ongniel, minhyun/jaehwan is mentioned, switch!ongniel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-10 16:18:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13505190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachtint/pseuds/peachtint
Summary: Daniel fucks up by having a drunken one night stand with a friend, then continues to fuck up by falling in love with him.





	Absolutely Smitten

**Author's Note:**

> unimportant character info  
> daniel – 21, third and final year of uni  
> ong – 22, has graduated uni, not rly doing anything but he works part time at a cat café (the cat café job is only like.. mentioned at the end lol)  
> jisung – 26, was a delinquent in middle school and got retained/expelled too many times, took 2 gap years after high school, entered uni at 24 with daniel  
> sungwoon – 26, daniel’s cousin, went to high/middle school w jisung, jisung’s childhood friend (they’re still bffs). now works an office job  
> minhyun – 22, ong’s best friend, dated ong for a month in their first year of college, then started dating jaehwan in second year and they’ve been together ever since  
> jaehwan – 21, in the same year as daniel/jisung, but in a different faculty so they never rly see each other. dating minhyun after crushing on him upon his entrance into uni lol  
> woojin and jihoon – minhyun’s distant cousins, he’s their tutor  
> baejin – minhyun’s favourite young person (lol), he’s friends w woojin and jihoon and minhyun met him along w daehwi and guanlin while he went to 2park’s house for a tutoring session. minhyun likes him bc he knows when 2 shut up  
> daehwi and guanlin – 2park’s friends that minhyun has become close to as well
> 
> extra info:  
> \- minhyun’s friend circle includes the whole of w1  
> \- ong isn’t rly close to maknae line, his friend circle is hyung line  
> \- same for rest of hyung line except jaehwan  
> \- jaehwan and minhyun live together so when maknae line come over sometimes jaehwan meets them  
> \- maknae line still don’t believe that minhwan are dating lol  
> \- before they started hooking up ongniel were the 2 friends in a friend group who were just acquaintances (they hung out in a group but they talked the least, no personal conversations)

Daniel doesn’t know how he ends up like this.  
When he wakes up, he’s greeted with a throbbing head and an unfamiliar ceiling. He tries to recall what he did last night, but he’s only met with the memory of meeting a bunch of friends at a party and having someone slip a suspicious pink drink into his hand. Anything further than that is entirely blank.  
“You came! I’m surprised, you’re a homebody.” He remembers Jisung saying this to him before he took a sip of that pink drink. He groans when he sits up, pressing his palm to his temple with a wince. He thinks he remembers a little more now – he remembers getting another drink after he finished the pink one, then being dragged out to dance by an equally tipsy Seongwoo until everything seems too hazy for him to make out.  
Daniel hears a shift in the sheets beside him and he nearly jumps, forgetting that he’d woken up in a room that didn’t even belong to him. He turns to find out who the mysterious room owner is, and is greeted by a mop of black hair he’s sure he’s very familiar with. Said boy shifts in his sleep again, eyelids fluttering, three moles below his right eye forming a constellation, and fuck.  
Daniel tries to think of the best way to respond, but his body seems to work in its own way; he screams, high-pitched and loud, before throwing a pillow at the person that’d just started to wake up.  
“Ow,” he winces when the pillow smacks him square in the face, and Daniel is already getting ready to get up and bolt the fuck out. When he stands up, though, he realizes he’s entirely naked and his clothes are scattered all over the floor, and the only piece he can identify as his own is a red flannel shirt. The shirt hangs on the corner of a study chair, and stares back at him almost accusingly. He sits down again in defeat.  
“Seongwoo hyung,” Daniel starts, slightly awkward. “I apologize.”  
“Why are you speaking so formally?” Seongwoo laughs a little and Daniel is already planning his escape to Alaska to start a new life where he didn’t accidentally have a drunken hookup with a friend. Daniel has known Seongwoo for approximately a month through Jisung, and he has no idea how he’s going to explain the predicament he landed himself in to him. He’d always thought that Seongwoo was handsome, and had possibly wondered how he’d look shirtless at a few (read: many, many, many times) points, but having sex with him was never part of the plan.  
“I-uh, have to go,” Daniel stands up, bends down and searches the scattered pieces of cloth for his clothes. Once he has his pants on, he doesn’t turn his head and scrambles out of the door. Seongwoo doesn’t call for him, and he’s never been more grateful for anything in his life.

He sees Jisung later that day during his 1pm class. He arrives ten minutes early, and takes the seat beside him. He doesn’t know if he can look Jisung in the eye because he knows that Seongwoo and him are close, and he wonders if this drunken hookup would somehow be a violation to the sanctity of their friendship.  
“So,” Jisung’s eyes don’t leave his phone as he scrolls through twitter. “Did you have fun last night?”  
“Uh,” Daniel doesn’t know how to answer.  
“Was Seongwoo fun?” Jisung prompts him a little further.  
“I don’t know, I can’t remember,” Daniel sighs, burying his face into his palms. “I can’t believe you didn’t try to stop us, hyung.”  
Jisung snorts while retweeting a video of a smiling dog.

His class ends an hour and a half later, and Daniel strolls out of the lecture hall with Jisung a step behind him. He’s about to turn around and ask Jisung if he wants to check out the new restaurant down the road when he sees Seongwoo, leaning idly against the wall, familiar red flannel folded neatly in hand. Fuck this, Daniel thinks, his brain trying to locate the nearest escape route. Before he can rush to the staircase behind him, though, Seongwoo spots him and makes his way over. There’s a tiny smile on his lips and Daniel ignores the odd swell he feels in the pit of his stomach. He’s trying his hardest to avoid anything related to Ong Seongwoo, but Ong Seongwoo is so pretty his smile could probably create world peace and feed the homeless – avoiding the mental manifestation of him proves nearly impossible.  
“Hey, Daniel,” Seongwoo grins. “You left this at my house.”  
Seongwoo hands the flannel over to him, and Daniel accepts it with a sheepish chuckle and shaky hands.  
“I’m sorry,” Daniel inhales sharply. “For just walking out like that, and oh my god, for throwing the pillow at you I panicked and-”  
Seongwoo giggles (he fucking giggled!!! that’s adorable, Daniel thinks),“It’s alright, I’m fine.”  
“I’m, uh, about to go grab lunch with Jisung hyung here, so I’ll have to go now!” Daniel is sure that his voice went up an entire octave. “I’ll see you around?” (He hopes he doesn’t)  
“He isn’t even here, though?” Seongwoo says, amused, but a small frown settles between his eyebrows and at the corners of his lips.  
Daniel whips his head back, and of course, Yoon Jisung has left him to fend for himself.  
“I swear to god he was just here a moment ago, I promise I’m not lying to escape from the inevitable awkward talk about how we fuc-” Daniel stops himself there before he deepens the grave he’s been digging for himself since that morning. “I mean, I’m rambling and I should really, really stop before I ruin whatever is left of our friendship, or acquaintence-ship, or, I don’t know.”  
He meets Seongwoo’s gaze for a split second, mortified at the string of blabber that just tumbled out of his mouth. He’s ready to run, but Seongwoo literally chortles, eyes crinkling into pretty little crescents that have Daniel’s feet immobilized.  
“You’re fucking adorable, you know that?” Seongwoo laughs.  
Daniel flushes, pink dusting his cheeks and spreading to the tips of his ears. His eyes dart to the ground, focusing on his shoes as he wills the heat on his face to dissipate as quickly as possible.  
“Are you embarrassed?” Seongwoo’s voice is teasing and light. Daniel peers at Seongwoo’s face through his fringe.  
“No…” Daniel admits, hand involuntarily reaching up to rub at the back of his neck.  
There’s a pause that lasts too long to be comfortable. Daniel lifts his head, his eyes scanning Seongwoo’s sharp, defined features. Even his lashes are pretty, Daniel thinks, awkwardly glancing at Seongwoo’s lips just as he moistens them with the tip of his tongue.  
Daniel has no idea what comes over him next, but he grabs a fistful of Seongwoo’s shirt, tugs him forward, and clashes their lips together – way less gracefully than he’d planned. The kiss lasts for approximately three seconds before Daniel is loosening his hold on Seongwoo’s shirt while opening his mouth to commence his third apology of the day.  
“God, I am so sorry I had no idea what I was doin-” and Daniel is silenced by Seongwoo’s lithe fingers circling his wrist and pulling him away, through the crowd of students heading in the opposite direction. He wonders how Seongwoo seems to know his way around this wing of the campus so well, as he practically drags him with complete certainty towards the nearest parking lot, only stopping to shove him against the nearest wall, inching his face closer till Daniel can feel Seongwoo’s breath against his sealed lips.  
“Don’t fuck with me, Daniel,” Seongwoo all but growls.  
Daniel wants to speak, but is cut off for the nth time that day when Seongwoo grabs him by the back of his neck and slams their lips together. It’s a mess of teeth and tongue, but Daniel feels heat cage his body – it burns where Seongwoo touches him, and his knees are starting to shake.  
Seongwoo begins to press kisses to his jaw, lips trailing softly down the side of his neck towards protruding collarbones. He licks and bites, pushing a leg between Daniel’s thighs. Daniel tries to muffle his groan and leans his face into Seongwoo’s shoulder, releasing hot puffs of air onto the material of his shirt.  
“Not in public, hyung,” Daniel nearly whines, fingers finding purchase on the soft material of Seongwoo’s shirt when he tries to grind his leg against Daniel.  
Reluctantly, the older pulls away, “My house? I drove here.”  
Daniel nods, and wonders if hooking up with Seongwoo one more time is even logical. He ponders on it for a moment, but decides, fuck it, what’s there to lose?

The drive to Seongwoo’s apartment is probably the most excruciating thing ever – he keeps his hands on his lap, albeit fidgeting continuously with a mix of anticipation and dread. He thinks about making Seongwoo stop so he can climb over to the driver’s seat and take him right there, but decides against it because he’s a fucking adult who definitely knows how to practice self-control.  
In the elevator, Daniel notices Seongwoo fidgeting, too, and he reaches over to grab both his hands in his own. When the apartment door locks with a silent ‘click’, Seongwoo is already pinning Daniel to the wall, lips against lips as Daniel fumbles with the buttons of Seongwoo’s shirt and slides his hands under the fabric to ravish bare skin. They step backwards towards the bedroom in a mess – Seongwoo almost tripping over the dining table while Daniel nearly stubs his toe against a shelf.  
They tumble onto the bed, Seongwoo straddling Daniel’s hips as he lies face up.  
“So pretty,” Seongwoo mumbles, leaning down to capture Daniel’s lips once more. This time, it’s slower, languid, and deep. Daniel cants his hips upwards, gasping into Seongwoo’s mouth when the friction sends heat pooling at the base of his torso.  
“Get rid of this,” Daniel huffs, unbuttoning Seongwoo’s jeans messily while attempting to pull them down. He fails, skinny jeans acting like a second skin to the other’s legs. “Take them off, hyung.”  
Seongwoo complies, getting up to strip his jeans off, and Daniel follows. He returns to trailing feathery kisses along Daniel’s body, a trail down the center of his abs to his inner thighs.  
“Have you ever been rimmed before?” Seongwoo asks, lips grazing over the pale flesh of Daniel’s thighs, and Daniel feels his already flushed face heat up in shock.  
“No…” he breathes, lifting his hands to hide his burning face.  
“Good,” the smirk in Seongwoo’s voice is evident; he presses a soft kiss to Daniel’s inner thigh before biting lightly, tongue darting out to tease and suck. Daniel presses his lips together to muffle the moan that threatens to spill out, and Seongwoo takes it as a sign to keep going.  
He bites and sucks harder – he marks him with bruises that he hopes to see bloom into purple flowers, decorating milky white skin. Whines and pleas begin to spill out of Daniel’s lips in strings.  
“Hyu-ah-hyung, please,” Daniel bites down on his bottom lip when Seongwoo trails a finger along the bulge in his boxers.  
“Be patient,” Seongwoo slides his fingers under the waistband of Daniel’s boxers, tugging them down. “I’ll take care of you, don’t worry.”  
The younger practically whimpers when Seongwoo’s hands grasp his knees lightly, nudging his legs apart. Seongwoo presses one last kiss to the inside of Daniel’s thigh before getting up and leaning over to grab a bottle of lube from his bedside drawer.  
“It’s peach flavoured,” Seongwoo pops the cap open. “Kinda reminds me of you.”  
Daniel laughs, airy and low.  
He squeezes a generous amount onto his fingers, circling a finger around Daniel’s rim before pushing in slowly. He hears Daniel inhale sharply, then feels him exhale slowly and shakily.  
“Relax,” Seongwoo coos, beginning to pump his finger before inserting a second. He scissors his fingers, curling them in angles he knows would brush against the bundle of nerves he’s trying to locate. It’s a small triumph when Daniel lets out a loud, high-pitched moan, pallid fingertips curling into Seongwoo’s satin sheets.  
Seongwoo leans down while curving his fingers in the same angle. He presses a kiss to the bare skin of Daniel’s hips, then circles Daniel’s stretched rim with his tongue as he pumps the slender digits inside him.  
Daniel gasps when Seongwoo’s tongue slides into the wet heat along with his fingers. He feels his thighs start to tremble when the stimulation of having his prostate repeatedly abused by Seongwoo’s fingers combines with the teasing licks in and out of his hole sends shocks of pleasure to his core. He tries to muffle his moans again, but Seongwoo pulls away.  
“Wanna hear you,” he breathes.  
Seongwoo dips his tongue deeper into Daniel’s hole, twisting and curling it along with his fingers. Daniel’s whines grow louder, muscles tensing up and trembling as Seongwoo thrusts his fingers harder, dipping his tongue deeper.  
Daniel tangles his fingers in Seongwoo’s hair when he comes onto his own stomach, clenching around Seongwoo’s fingers with a low moan, eyes fluttering shut as he comes down from his high.  
Seongwoo is already reaching over to grab a few pieces of tissue to help Daniel clean up, but the younger grabs him by the wrist to stop him, sitting up.  
“I’m done, but you’re not,” Daniel says softly, pressing his palm to Seongwoo’s crotch.  
“Daniel, you don’t have to,” Seongwoo rests a hand on Daniel’s thigh.  
“I want to, hyung,” Daniel grins, and Seongwoo doesn’t deny him.  
He slips his fingers past the waistband of Seongwoo’s boxers, fingers ghosting over his shaft in slight hesitance. He wraps his fingers around Seongwoo’s cock, hand quickly easing up and down the slickness of his length. Seongwoo’s so painfully hard it doesn’t take long for him to come into Daniel’s hand with the low grunt, bucking up and arching into Daniel’s touch.  
They clean off with tissues and wet wipes, and Daniel remembers that he has another class at half-past-three, but it’s already four and he really, really can’t be bothered to try and attend a lesson he’s already thirty minutes late for.  
“Um,” Daniel begins. “That was… nice.” They’re now sitting on Seongwoo’s bed, fully clothed and cross-legged.  
Seongwoo laughs, “yeah”.  
There’s another moment of awkward silence that falls between them, and Daniel is already wracking his brain for a conversation starter to make the atmosphere more comfortable.  
“I have a proposal,” Seongwoo clears his throat, then licks his lips. “You can reject me if you want.”  
Daniel raises his eyebrows.  
“I want to do this more often,” Seongwoo sighs, “No strings attached, just something mutually beneficial. We’re both enjoying it, right?”  
Daniel isn’t too taken aback by Seongwoo’s idea, and he ponders on it for a moment before agreeing.

The next time Daniel sees Seongwoo after their second hookup is two days after the incident, at Minhyun’s surprise birthday party. Daniel doesn’t expect to see Seongwoo there when he shows up, so he’s more than a little surprised to see the older lounging on the sofa, arm around Jaehwan.  
There are about nine people in the room, and he thinks about approaching Seongwoo, but notices him chatting with Jaehwan so animatedly that he’s worried about intruding. He settles for taking a seat beside Jisung instead with an awkward clearing of his throat.  
“So,” Jisung starts. “Dreamboat Ong Seongwoo is here today!”  
“You didn’t tell me he was going to be here!” Daniel half hisses, half whispers. “How does he even know Minhyun?”  
“What?” Jisung nearly laughs, mildly surprised. “You didn’t know? They used to date, for about a month or so?”  
“What?” Daniel hisses.  
“Don’t be too surprised, or jealous,” Jisung warns. “It wasn’t serious, they realized their friendship was too bro-ey to progress into anything further, so they’re just really close now.”  
Daniel groans, “I can’t believe you never told me, and why would I be jealous?”  
“You never asked,” Jisung shrugs, and Daniel shuts up.

The plan to surprise Minhyun is probably only meant for kids below 16 to do. They’re attempting to hide, and their too-large, gangly bodies are definitely not going to fit. Daniel is having a hard time trying to squeeze behind the sofa, and Woojin attempts to slot himself under it, only to be chased away by Guanlin. He settles for pretending to sleep against a dining chair instead, mumbling, “If I can’t see him, he can’t see me.”  
Everyone is struggling (except for Sungwoon: he fits in the gap between the bookshelf and the wall perfectly), and Daniel watches Seongwoo’s miserable attempt at curling himself up in the curtain.  
The door clicks open, and Jisung shushes them. Minhyun steps in, Jihoon counts down with a “three, two, one!” when the door shuts, and the grown adults squeezed in every tiny space in the room jump out with a loud, horribly out of tune version of “happy birthday”. He’s sure a few of them knock their heads on something in the process.  
Minhyun is surprised – he nearly drops his phone onto the ground when Jaehwan appears holding a cake. Jisung attempts to pull the elastic of the party hat under Minhyun’s chin, and the group of ten cheer noisily. There’s a huge grin plastered on Minhyun’s face, and Jaehwan reaches over to wrap his arms around him.  
“Thanks, guys,” Minhyun’s voice shakes a little.  
“Are you going to cry?” Jinyoung asks.  
“No…”  
“You are,” Jaehwan laughs. “I get it, you don’t think you deserve such amazing friends, it’s only weird if you aren’t touched.”  
“Shut up,” Minhyun is laughing, but he turns to bury his face is Jaehwan’s shoulder.  
The group coos, and Jisung is on the verge of tears.

The table is lined with a row of alcohol, and a row of juice boxes. Sungwoon has to swat away Jinyoung’s hand when he attempts to reach for a can of beer.  
(“You’re like, five?” Sungwoon says, and Jinyoung groans, grabbing a pack of apple juice.)  
Daniel doesn’t feel like drinking too much, so he opts for filling a cup halfway with alcohol, and squirting orange juice from the packet to fill it all the way.  
“What’s that?” he’s too busy watching vodka and orange juice swirl together to notice someone take a seat beside him.  
“Huh?” Daniel mumbles absentmindedly.  
Said person snakes an arm around his waist and oh, it’s the person he’s been waiting to talk to for the past few days.  
“Oh, hyung,” Daniel turns to meet his eyes.  
Seongwoo hums, leaning his cheek against the younger’s shoulder.  
“Are you drunk?”  
“No, just tipsy,” Seongwoo grins, holding Daniel a little tighter and snuggling his face into the crook of the younger’s neck. Daniel ignores the clench in his chest (because how the fuck can someone be that cute).  
Everyone is busy, with their attention directed away from the pair, and Daniel is more than thankful for that (if anyone noticed, especially Jisung, he’d have a hard time producing a justification).  
“Hey,” Daniel mumbles, and Seongwoo lifts his face off Daniel’s shoulder, arms still wrapped around his waist but loosening slightly. The gap between their faces is too small to be comfortable – Daniel can feel Seongwoo’s breath ghost over his philtrum. Seongwoo’s eyes flit towards Daniel’s lips, and the younger takes it as a sign to lean forward and connect their lips. It’s nearly electrifying to Daniel, tingles trailing his back where Seongwoo’s hands rest.  
“Let’s go somewhere else,” the idea is suggestive, but Daniel doesn’t really hesitate because the loss of contact already has him craving for more.  
They end up in one of Minhyun’s spare rooms, Seongwoo with his back pressed against the wall and Daniel caging him in.  
“Can I kiss you?” Daniel whispers.  
“You already did, idiot,” Seongwoo says, albeit with no bite.  
“Okay, I’m asking for permission for the previous one, and now,” Daniel isn’t really sure if he’s making any sense, but it seems like Seongwoo gets the memo.  
“Yeah, sure, just know that I’m not an easy guy,” Seongwoo grins, and Daniel kisses him.

They wake up the next morning, barely clothed and running out of the door in mess of giggles and touseled hair with Minhyun cursing at them. “You dirty bastards!” Minhyun wails, and Jaehwan cackles.

Maybe I’m spending too much time with Daniel, Seongwoo thinks. He watches Daniel from his position, comfortably nuzzling his face into the younger’s lap. Daniel cards his fingers through his hair, and Seongwoo hums at the soft scrape of his nails against his scalp.  
They’re watching a variety show, and Daniel is laughing to himself, adding a witty comment or two nearly every time the hosts tell a joke.  
That’s what makes Seongwoo drift away from the content on the television – he wonders if the amount of time he’s spent with Daniel for the past couple of days have made him somewhat hyperaware of the other’s little mannerisms and actions.  
He’s noticed Daniel’s tendency to mumble things to himself, sometimes incoherently. He thinks about how Daniel giggles to himself while rummaging through the fridge for something to eat, about how Daniel repeats funny phrases from dramas under his breath every time they amuse him.  
He wonders why it has yet to get on his nerves; if it had been anyone else acting as the source of constant noise around him, he wasn’t sure if he’d find it anywhere near as endearing.  
Who can blame him, though? When Daniel giggles, his eyes curve into pretty little crescents, bunny teeth peeking out past his lips, and Seongwoo is smitten.

“Hello, earth to Seong-ie?” Daniel pokes him in the cheek.  
“No one calls me that,” Seongwoo snaps out of his daze.  
“I can be the first,” Daniel grins  
“No,” Seongwoo protests, “I’m older than you, you know.”  
“Okay,” Daniel chirps. “Seong-ie hyung!”  
“No,” Seongwoo repeats, and Daniel pouts.  
“Don’t try that on me,” Seongwoo warns (lies). “It doesn’t work!”  
“Really?” There’s a slightly mischievous glint in his eyes and Seongwoo really doesn’t want to know what he’s going to attempt next.  
Seongwoo shifts a little in Daniel’s lap to meet eyes with him, and Daniel lets out a tiny chuckle.  
“What’s so funny,” Seongwoo says, words coming off sounding more like a statement than a question.  
“Two answers,” Daniel holds two fingers up in a peace sign. “One, you’re really cute so I couldn’t help myself, and two, I thought of something funny involving the position of your face right now, go figure.”  
Seongwoo doesn’t really process what he’s saying very quickly, but when he does, he frowns.  
“Kang Daniel,” Seongwoo gasps in mock disgust, but makes no attempt to move off Daniel’s lap. “You’re so gross.”  
“You like it,” Daniel says with a quirk of the lips.  
Seongwoo doesn’t deny or confirm it, nuzzling further into Daniel’s lap and shifting his body to make himself comfortable.  
“You were so shy just a few days ago,” Seongwoo sighs. “What happened to your purity and innocence?”  
“I dunno,” Daniel pokes Seongwoo on the tip of his nose. “You know, you did that thing with your tongue and I just-”  
“Okay! Okay!” Seongwoo feels his face flush. “Let’s not… talk about that right now, not while I’m on your lap.”

Daniel, too, wonders how he and Seongwoo managed to click so well. He’d always seen Seongwoo as someone out of his league – an untouchable figure he’d admire from across the table when Jisung invites him to join them for lunch.  
Now, Ong Seongwoo who seemed like a god a week ago was lying on his lap, wrapped in a blanket and grinning at him.  
He’d grown so comfortable with the older man that the initial nerves that came along with such a physical relationship with him somehow managed to dissipate entirely.  
“You’re cute like this,” Daniel muses.  
Seongwoo doesn’t reply, and Daniel assumes that he’s fallen asleep.  
Daniel sighs and brushes his fingers through Seongwoo’s hair. The older hums, and Daniel lets himself doze off to the vibrations of his breaths, and the rise and fall of his chest.

It’s slightly past eight when Seongwoo stirs in Daniel’s lap. He rubs at his eyes nearly glued shut with sleep, yawning while curling into the warmth beneath him. He barely notices that he’s still on Daniel’s lap, but when he feels the cold scrape of his zipper against the back of his head, his stomach muscles contract so hard to sit up that he’s sure they’re going to tear.  
Red in the face, Seongwoo wonders if Daniel can even walk properly when he wakes up – bearing half of Seongwoo’s weight on his thighs had probably put a halt to his blood circulation. Even so, he wills himself to wake the younger up.  
“Hey, Niel,” Seongwoo shakes him a little. “Wake up, let’s get dinner.”  
Daniel’s eyelids flutter a little, and Seongwoo nearly laughs at the sight of his eyes and nose twitching, bunny teeth peeking out under his upper lip. Cute, he thinks, before giving Daniel another shake. Daniel seems to wake up more fully this time, eyes slowly opening with a furrow of his brows as if to register his surroundings.  
“Let’s get dinner,” Seongwoo grins. “Pizza? Or chicken?”  
Daniel blinks away the sleep from his eyes, “I don’t know, you decide.”  
“Chicken it is, then,” Seongwoo reaches for his phone on the coffee table.

When he’s done, Daniel, still partially asleep, clambers into his lap, dopey smile plastered on his face.  
“They said fifty minutes?” He asks through his grin.  
“Yeah,” Seongwoo just raises his eyebrows and feigns ignorance. “And?”  
Daniel responds with a roll of his eyes and a kiss on his neck.  
“Okay, I get it you fucking,” Seongwoo thinks of a word, “horndog”.  
“Horndog?” Daniel laughs, and Seongwoo thinks that he’s adorable like that – tufts of hair sticking out in all the wrong places, and a huge, stupid-looking, shit-eating grin displaying his bunny teeth.  
“Ah,” Seongwoo expresses his thoughts. “Really, too cute.”  
Daniel flushes, but slips his fingers under the thin material of Seongwoo’s cotton shirt anyway, surging forwards and pressing a kiss to his lips.  
“I’m cute,” Daniel mumbles, “but I’m hot, too.”  
“Alright, sex bomb,” Seongwoo laughs, and snakes an arm around Daniel’s waist before kissing him again, deeper, with a nibble and a swipe of the tongue against his bottom lip. Daniel hums, sliding his hands further up Seongwoo’s shirt. He parts for a moment, slipping Seongwoo’s shirt off and past his head. Daniel frowns.  
“Have you been skipping your meals?” Daniel’s voice is laced with concern, and the frown that rests between his eyebrows comes naturally.  
“We’re about to eat, aren’t we?” Seongwoo nuzzles into Daniel’s collarbone – a shit attempt at bringing the new topic into a different direction.  
“You really have to take care of yourself better, hyung,” Daniel sighs. “I’m worried that you aren’t eating enough and you’ll just, I don’t know, collapse.”  
“It’s not really your concern, is it?” It’s Seongwoo’s turn to frown, and he does so in disdain.  
“Okay, I know,” Daniel reaches up to brush his fingers against the moles on Seongwoo’s cheek, “but I care about you.”  
Seongwoo just nods in a silent understanding, and Daniel awkwardly shifts off his lap.  
“I’m hungry,” Daniel tries to break the silence. “I can’t really wait for another forty minutes, let’s make ramyeon.”  
Seongwoo smiles a little and slips his shirt back on, “yeah, let’s.”

The ramyeon just boils in the pot, and Daniel leans against the kitchen counter with his arms folded. Seongwoo nibbles at his bottom lip, fingers tapping silently against the counter.  
“Hey, Daniel,” Seongwoo winces at how his voice shakes as it leaves his lips. “About just now, um, I’m sorry, and thanks for caring, I appreciate it.”  
Daniel picks up a pair of chopsticks to give the noodles a stir, “Don’t worry, I crossed a line, too.”  
Seongwoo’s a little puzzled by his answer but chooses not to press on and tries not to think too far about it.

The pizza arrives, and they eat on the floor in relative silence until Daniel gets a small chunk of meat stuck on the corner of his lips.  
“You’ve got food there,” Seongwoo points at it.  
Daniel sticks his tongue out to get rid of it, but Seongwoo gives him a poke on the chest and in some sort of strange reflex, Daniel retracts his tongue and stares at Seongwoo weirdly.  
“I’ll get it,” Seongwoo lets his lips quirk up into a smirk before leaning in, licking at the corner of Daniel’s lips.  
Again, they’re plunged into an odd silence when Seongwoo pulls away, till Daniel shatters it with a “pffft” noise, laughing into a closed fist.  
“That was fucking terrible,” Daniel nearly snorts, and Seongwoo laughs along.  
“You enjoyed it!” Seongwoo tries to defend himself in the midst of his giggles.  
“Yeah, yeah, I loved it, it was phenomenal,” Daniel teases.  
“I’ll do it again, then,” Seongwoo somehow feels a burst of confidence, and he inches closer, sitting himself nearly in Daniel’s lap before resting both arms on his shoulders, hanging loosely behind his neck.  
“Finish off what we started previously, hmm?” Seongwoo breathes against Daniel’s neck, and feels the younger gulp.  
Daniel shifts, and now he’s got a leg between Seongwoo’s thighs as he presses fleeting kisses down the side of his neck. He experimentally grinds his leg upwards, and Seongwoo gasps, grasping onto the material of Daniel’s shirt with shaky hands.  
The reaction drives a spurt of excitement and cockiness from Daniel – he continues to shift his leg upwards, teasingly brushing against Seongwoo’s crotch before grinding it up, hard.  
“Dan-ah-Daniel,” Seongwoo has his face buried in Daniel’s chest. “Keep doing that, please.”  
“Hm?” Daniel honestly has no clue what he’s doing, but Seongwoo seems to like it, so he’s fine with it in the end. “And you’ll come in your pants?” (Daniel cringes at himself, but Seongwoo just bites on his bottom lip and grinds down on his leg harder, and he’s suddenly distracted from his own embarrassment.)  
“Niel,” Seongwoo whines, and reaches for the hem of Daniel’s shirt to pull it over his head.  
Daniel lets him, and does the same for Seongwoo. He maneuvers a hand between himself and Seongwoo, fumbling a little with his jeans before undoing the button and the zipper.  
“Take your pants off, hyung,” Daniel says, and Seongwoo listens, getting up into a kneeling position before pulling his pants down, albeit with a little difficulty.  
“Why are these pants like a second skin?” Daniel reaches over to assist, but Seongwoo’s already got the both legs out of the confines of his jeans so Daniel retracts his hand.  
“Hm, I think you like them, though?” Seongwoo‘s got another dopey, shit-eating grin on his face and Daniel finds it hard to stop the laughter that bubbles in his chest. He thinks about the amount of times he’s stared at Seongwoo’s ass in those black jeans, turning his body into a pile of goo, and gives the older a crooked smile.  
“C’mere,” Daniel mumbles, beckoning Seongwoo back into his lap. Seongwoo listens.  
Daniel begins pressing butterfly kisses down Seongwoo’s neck, along his collarbone, all while trailing his index finger along the waistband of his boxers.  
He dips his fingers downwards, barely ghosting past the head of Seongwoo’s dick, and Seongwoo shivers above him, fingers and toes curling.  
“Don’t tease,” Seongwoo breathes, eyes wide, as if begging Daniel to be quick.  
Daniel doesn’t really have the heart to deny him, especially when Seongwoo is barely clothed and half seated in his lap. He tugs on the waistband, pulling Seongwoo’s boxers all the way down. He gulps, because he realizes that he really has no idea what he’s going to do now.  
“What… do you want me to do?” Daniel asks, a little sheepishly, shifting his gaze to meet Seongwoo’s eyes.  
He half expects Seongwoo to laugh, but Seongwoo doesn’t, in fact only hardening his gaze.  
“I want you,” Seongwoo trails his fingers down Daniel’s thigh, “to fuck me.”  
Fuck, that was hot, Daniel thinks.  
They maintain that heavy, heated eye contact for a moment, before Daniel gets up, grabbing Seongwoo under the thighs and hoisting him up, releasing him onto the bed.  
“Whatever you want hyung,” Daniel smiles, leaning down to connect their lips in a searing kiss. Seongwoo moans into the kiss, and Daniel grabs the bottle of lube from the bedside table without breaking it.  
Daniel does, however, pull away from Seongwoo to squeeze a generous amount of lube onto his fingers. He circles the finger around Seongwoo’s rim for a moment, and takes the sharp inhale Seongwoo takes as a cue to slide his finger in. Seongwoo tenses at the discomfort, wrinkling his nose a little. Daniel attempts to move his finger a little, pumping it in and out, waiting for Seongwoo to relax a little. Seongwoo does, eventually, and Daniel curls his finger, earning a sharp gasp from Seongwoo as he reaches for Daniel’s arm and gives it a squeeze.  
“Okay?” Daniel’s afraid he’s hurt him, but Seongwoo gives a nod and a small smile.  
Daniel pulls his finger out, and drizzles more lube on both his index and middle finger before pressing the pads of his fingers to Seongwoo’s hole.  
“Hurry,” Seongwoo whines, and Daniel pushes his fingers in. He attempts so scissor them slowly, curling them experimentally to press against the bundle of nerves he’s trying to locate. Seongwoo groans, arching his back and throwing his head back into the pillow. Daniel continues to stretch Seongwoo, till he’s trying to grind down against his fingers, squirming and whimpering. Daniel thinks he looks beautiful like this, eyes shut, brows drawn together in pleasure, with his lips parted slightly.  
“Niel, stop, I’m ready,” Seongwoo says between breaths, and Daniel, once again, doesn’t have the heart to tease him.  
Daniel gets up to pull his pants and boxers off, while Seongwoo grabs a condom from the bedside drawer to hand it to him. Daniel rolls it on, and Seongwoo whines for him to hurry up.  
“You’re so slow, hurry,” Seongwoo groans and Daniel laughs airily.  
“Okay, okay, be patient,” Daniel replies while getting more lube.  
When Daniel finally climbs over Seongwoo, there’s a smile ghosting on his lips.  
“Fuck me, Niel,” Seongwoo’s still smiling when he says that, and Daniel feels like that’s somewhat of a threat, but he’s turned on enough that he doesn’t really care.  
Daniel has one of Seongwoo’s legs up on his shoulder when he pushes in, and Seongwoo scrunches his nose again in discomfort.  
“Okay?” Daniel asks again, and Seongwoo nods, but tells him to wait a little.  
Seongwoo takes his time to get adjusted, and Daniel finds himself lost while looking at Seongwoo’s constellation moles, at the pretty contrast of his eyelashes against his skin, and at the way his cheeks flush when he’s like this, prettily submitting himself to Daniel.  
He’s jolted out of his thoughts when Seongwoo calls his name, telling him that he’s okay and that he can move.  
Daniel starts with an experimental thrust – a minute shift of his hips that already has a moan caught in his throat, and another spilling from Seongwoo’s lips.  
Daniel thrusts again, this time bolder and a little harder.  
“Ah, Daniel,” Seongwoo wraps his lithe fingers around Daniel’s arm, “do that again, please.”  
Daniel thrusts again, a little harder again this time and Seongwoo’s back arches off the mattress when he moans. Soon, Daniel finds a steady rhythm of thrusts that elicits grunts from them both, and Seongwoo lets a string of ‘ah’s spill from his lips each time Daniel thrusts into him, harder and faster.  
“Dan-ah, Daniel, please,” Seongwoo begs, though at this point he doesn’t really know what he’s begging for.  
Daniel senses that Seongwoo’s close, and wraps a hand around his dick and pumps it in the rhythm of his thrusts, driving his hips forward faster and deeper till Seongwoo’s a mess of moans and whines.  
Easily, Seongwoo comes with spurts of white on both Daniel’s and his chest, and Daniel follows after as he thrusts into Seongwoo while he clenches, groaning airy and low. He pulls out, then collapses on top of Seongwoo to catch his breath.  
“Gross,” Seongwoo pushes the dead weight of Daniel’s body off him. “We need to clean up.”  
Daniel groans, getting up to pull the condom off, tying it up and tossing it in the bin. He leans over the grab tissues for them, cleaning off the come and dabbing at the sweat on their foreheads.

Seongwoo ends up staying over, cuddled into Daniel’s side on his bed.  
“That was, good,” Seongwoo starts.  
“Yeah?” Daniel laughs.  
“Yeah,” Seongwoo smiles. “I liked it, a lot.”  
“I can tell, from the ‘fuck me, Niel’,” Daniel teases, impersonating Seongwoo’s voice, high pitched and nasally. “Of course you liked it.”  
“Shut up,” Seongwoo groans, burying his face into Daniel’s chest. “I don’t sound remotely like that.”  
That’s adorable, Daniel thinks, and he wills his heart to calm down before Seongwoo can feel it against his face.  
“Hey,” Seongwoo speaks up again after a bit of silence. “Are you free tomorrow?”  
“Yeah,” Daniel replies.  
“Great, let’s go out,” Daniel can hear the grin in Seongwoo’s voice.  
“Oh?” Daniel laughs. “That’s direct.”  
“I’m not asking you out, dumbass,” Seongwoo clicks his tongue.  
“Yeah, okay,” Daniel knows he’s joking, but he somehow feels like heart fall a little.

They fall asleep on Daniel’s bed, Seongwoo’s face buried into Daniel’s bare chest, Daniel’s arms tightened securely around Seongwoo’s waist. In the morning, Seongwoo stirs first, shifting in Daniel’s hold. He wiggles a little, attempting to shake off the vice grip the younger had somehow wrapped him in amidst his sleep. Daniel only pulls him closer, and Seongwoo tries not to groan in annoyance when he realizes that they’re both still stewing in mess they made last night.  
“Niel,” Seongwoo calls and jabs a finger at his cheek. “Let’s shower.”  
Daniel’s only response is a muffled groan.  
“If you don’t get up, I’m showering without you,” Seongwoo presents the threat (somewhat) teasingly, and Daniel’s eyes miraculously fly open.  
“I’m up! I’m up!” Daniel announces, rubbing at his eyes, tufts of hair sticking upwards. Seongwoo snorts, and pushes Daniel off the bed.

Now, Daniel has a tiny problem. Seongwoo, of course, is the root of it.  
Daniel doesn’t think much of it when he grabs a top and a fresh pair of boxers for Seongwoo from his wardrobe for him to change into, till Seongwoo starts stripping down in front of him (Seongwoo’s not shy, and that’s another of Daniel’s problems but that’s not the main issue he’s dealing with today because somehow, this is much worse), slipping the boxers on and buttoning the shirt down.  
And there’s the problem – Ong Seongwoo, wearing only Daniel’s white long sleeved button down shirt and black boxers, looking like what Daniel would call “a whole meal”. Of course, the shirt just has to make their size difference so apparent when the sleeves extend past Seongwoo’s fingers – it looks so prettily oversized on him that Daniel is suddenly torn between wanting to cuddle him and wanting to fuck him into the nearest wall (while he’s still wearing that shirt).  
Seongwoo bends down to retrieve the black jeans he wore yesterday (because there’s no way Seongwoo could fit into Daniel’s jeans), and Daniel tries not to look at his ass. Seongwoo starts pulling the jeans on, and Daniel realizes how fucked he is when Seongwoo is both wearing those jeans that hug his legs perfectly and wearing his shirt, that makes him look so unbelievably soft yet hot that he’s about to go weak in the knees.  
“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Seongwoo teases when he’s done pulling the zipper of his jeans up.  
Daniel jolts a little, and tries to think of a response.  
“That’s hot, um, what? I mean you look… decent,” he blurts, and then retracts.  
“Decent? That’s it?” Seongwoo feigns hurt, but there’s that giveaway ghost of a smirk on his lips and Daniel just chuckles nervously. “I can’t believe shy Daniel has returned,” Seongwoo continues teasing, and Daniel grabs the nearest pillow and hurls it at him.  
“Shy Daniel is dead,” Daniel wags his index finger. Seongwoo just laughs.

They find themselves at a café near Daniel’s apartment, and their journey there was in relative silence, both walking with a considerable distance between them. Daniel decides to be adventurous and gets a special menu drink, and Seongwoo gets an Americano. (“You’re too boring, hyung,” Daniel teases, and Seongwoo sticks his tongue out.)  
Later, Daniel decides that being adventurous was a terrible idea. Seongwoo sips away at his Americano, but Daniel’s stuck with a mysterious light pink, too-sweet drink on the table in front of him. He gives it a stir, and watches the pink sprinkles swirl and bleed colour into the drink.  
“This is barely even coffee,” Daniel scrunches his nose after taking another sip. “It’s disgusting.”  
“What was it about me being boring again?” Seongwoo says.  
“Shut up, hyung,” Daniel grumbles into his “coffee” and takes a huge gulp – a childish ‘fuck you’ to Seongwoo. That proves to be a mistake, because the coffee is so sweet it physically hurts his throat and Daniel ends up sputtering into his cup while Seongwoo gives him a few pats on the back from across the table.  
“You know, sometimes I forget that I’m older than you, but sometimes it’s very apparent,” Seongwoo laughs.  
“It’s just one year, and when do you feel like I’m older than you?” Daniel’s genuinely curious.  
“Um, haha,” Seongwoo turns to stare out of the window instead, pink lightly dusting his cheeks and the tip of his ears.  
“Oh, that’s... nice,” Daniel catches on, then laughs.

Monday rolls around eventually, and Daniel sees Jisung again in class.  
“Hyung,” Daniel groans. “I’m fucked.”  
“By Seongwoo?” Jisung grins, wide and innocent but Daniel knows better.  
“Okay, first of all, fuck you. I didn’t even get the opportunity to hit you for just running off that day,” Daniel huffs.  
“Ended well, didn’t it?” Jisung’s smile remains and Daniel resists the urge to hit him with his textbook.  
“I’m still fucked,” Daniel buries his face in his palms.  
“Okay, I’m done teasing you,” Jisung sighs. “What happened?”  
“He’s too pretty…” Daniel trails off, face still pressed into his hands.  
“That’s it?” Jisung’s slightly exasperated. “Here I thought that you were making progress with him.”  
“Progress? We aren’t dating, and we won’t date,” Daniel shifts into a different position, now face down on the table. Daniel shifts to face Jisung and the older gives him a face.  
“We won’t date,” Jisung imitates him with a mocking voice, scrunching his nose and shaking his head. “Yeah right Niel, not like you’re sending him heart eyes every time you’re within a five meter radius of each other,” Jisung rolls his eyes, and lowers his volume when the professor strides in.  
“He’s just pretty, hyung,” Daniel hisses, but somehow, those words don’t come out sounding as convincing as they did in his head (he fails to convince himself, too).  
Jisung just sighs at him and gives him the exasperated expression he’s way too used too seeing.

The next time Daniel sees Seongwoo, they’re at Seongwoo’s apartment. They’re sat on his bed, laptop balanced precariously on the surface where their thighs touch, half empty pizza box on Daniel’s side of the bed. Seongwoo’s idea was to watch some horror movie about a dancing clown, and frankly, Daniel really really didn’t want to. Of course, Daniel’s too whipped to say no, so he agrees anyway (how could you blame him? Seongwoo’s got those dreamy eyes and the fact that he was dressed in nothing but a big shirt and boxers had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome).  
And of course, the film has to start with little boys and rainy days and Daniel is so close to shitting himself. And of course, there’s a fucking clown in that sewer.  
“Jesus fuck on a fucking boat,” Daniel hisses when drool literally starts dripping down the clown’s face. Seongwoo (that bastard) is fucking laughing, but Daniel’s grip on the sleeve of Seongwoo’s shirt is beginning to tighten and his palms are getting sweaty.  
“Are you scared?” Seongwoo chuckles.  
“Terrified,” Daniel answers, Seongwoo just laughs.  
The music keeps building up, and Daniel’s skin is beginning to crawl more and more – he’s expecting some sort of jump scare, but it never comes. The kid (George? Greg? Daniel can’t remember his name over the sound of himself trying not to cry) tries to reach for his boat and every fiber of his being is going “no you fucking idiot!!!” but he does so anyway, and then it comes.  
“Fuck me up the fucking ass!” Daniel screams when the kid does, and he slams the laptop shut before Seongwoo can express any form of concern. Seongwoo jumps too, but laughs after Daniel calms down a little.  
“You could’ve just told me if you were scared, you know,” Seongwoo says, still laughing.  
“Yeah, okay,” Daniel huffs.  
“We can do something else instead,” Seongwoo suggests. “Talk about ancient Greece maybe?”  
“Ancient Greece?” Daniel snorts. “Sure, hyung.”  
“Hey! Don’t doubt me, I know lots about ancient Greece,” Seongwoo puffs out his chest. Daniel just snorts again.  
“In ancient Greece, men used to cover themselves in olive oil before going to battle,” Seongwoo looks relatively proud of his first fact.  
“Alright,” Daniel just laughs.  
“The word ‘idiot’ meant anyone who wasn’t a politician,” Seongwoo’s holding his fingers up now to keep count of his facts.  
“People also went to the gym naked and the word ‘gymnasium’ literally meant ‘school for the naked exercise’.” Seongwoo laughs at it, and Daniel’s a little confused at this point.  
“This isn’t all I’ve got but I’m ending it here with a personal favourite,” Seongwoo wiggles his ring finger. “Throwing an apple at someone was considered an expression of love, and could be used for marriage proposals.”  
“What?” Daniel probably finds that last one too funny, and he laughs so hard he doesn’t realize he’s slapping Seongwoo on the leg.  
“Ow, Niel, I know I’m funny but that hurts,” Seongwoo pouts, and Daniel stops his hand from moving.  
“How did you even know all that?” Daniel asks.  
“I’m a genius, Niel? Didn’t you know?” Seongwoo smirks, Daniel just grins. (Really, Seongwoo just spends too much time on Wikipedia, and his odd knowledge has finally gotten useful.)

 

Daniel glares at his assignment, and it glares back at him like it’s saying “stop thinking about that boy!!” Daniel just sighs, dropping his head down, face first onto the table in front of his laptop.  
“Kang Daniel,” Daniel breathes. “Ong Seongwoo is nothing but a piece of meat, you can do this.”  
His word count is stuck at twenty, and his brain is literally nothing but a pile of goo at this point.  
“But he’s a hot piece of meat…” Daniel groans to himself. He’s another thirty words in on his essay when sleep starts tugging at his eyelids, and Daniel decides that he can do it later tonight.  
Fortunately (or unfortunately) for him, he hears the noise of someone kicking their shoes off and keys jingling outside the door, and he knows that Sungwoon’s home from work. The door clicks open, and Sungwoon pads in. What Daniel doesn’t expect is Jaehwan and Minhyun trailing in behind him.  
“We brought dinner,” Jaehwan announces before Daniel can ask why they’ve decided to invade his (and Sungwoon’s) house.  
“Nice, I was getting hungry,” Daniel shuts away his fifty word progress and joins them.  
“How’s the essay going?” Jaehwan asks, mouth half full of rice and a chicken drumstick in hand. Minhyun scrunches his nose, and grabs a paper towel to wipe at the stray rice grains on the corners of Jaehwan’s lips.  
“I’ve made tremendous progress,” Daniel says. “Fifty words, believe that!”  
Sungwoon snorts at him, “think a little less about your beloved Ong and maybe you can write a little further.” Minhyun stiffens a little, and for Daniel, it doesn’t go unnoticed.  
“I don’t… think about him a lot,” Daniel’s attempt at protesting winds up ridiculously futile, because Sungwoon just snorts again, and Jaehwan just laughs as Minhyun throws more tissue in his face.  
The meal goes by noisily, because Sungwoon and Jaehwan are unable to keep their mouths shut even when it’s filled with food. Jaehwan and Minhyun decide to take their leave, and Daniel sends them off while Sungwoon retreats to the kitchen to do the dishes.  
‘Hey um, Daniel, about Seongwoo,” Minhyun turns around to say after he’s put his shoes on. “Considering our um, history, this may be a little odd coming from me.” Daniel thinks it’s odd that he’d suddenly bring it up, but the latter just looks on with a tiny smile on his lips.  
“I promise I mean this from just a friend’s standpoint,” Minhyun smiles softly. “But please take care of him? I’m not telling you that he’s in love with you or anything, but this boy’s been closed off from anything romantic for nearly two years, I’m surprised he even started this with you.”  
A small “oh” is all Daniel has to offer.  
“I don’t want to assume, but it seems like you have taken an interest in him, and I’m not forcing you to, but please pursue him if you want to?” Minhyun chuckles. “Stupid boy’s afraid of commitment.”  
“Okay, I’ll consider,” Daniel cracks a grin, and Minhyun offers him a firm pat on the shoulder before linking arms with Jaehwan and leaving.  
And after all that, strangely, Daniel’s left with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knows Minhyun and Seongwoo aren’t together anymore, but he worries that there’s still feelings hovering somewhere in there. It’s odd, because he’s seen them interact before, and their friendship practically screams ‘no homo bros’, yet it’s a feeling he can’t seem to shake off.  
Daniel returns to his assignment later, mind fuzzy. He decides to push everything into back of his head, but the nagging thoughts remain. He’s not jealous… he just wants Seongwoo to like him at least a little more than Minhyun.  
Ten thousand words in and six hours later, Daniel lets himself lean back for the first time and ease out his tense muscles. He grabs his phone from the other end of the table and checks for messages he’d missed, and grins when his two most recent messages were lit up at the top of the screen.

[1.56am] ong: how’s the assignment going  
[1.56am] ong: hyung’s cheering for you Niel!

Daniel laughs at the peach emoticon Seongwoo attaches, and sends his reply.

[2.10am] Daniel: Hyung!!! I did it!! 10k words  
[2.11am] Daniel: Also why are you awake at this time :-(  
[2.11am] ong: im a creature of the night

Daniel laughs again, giggling into the back of his hand to keep his volume down.

[2.12am] Daniel: Okay, good night!! You should sleep

Seongwoo replies with a bear emoticon in pyjamas and waving, and Daniel sleeps that night with a stupid grin on his face. (Daniel also ignores all of his other texts because, well, priorities.)

 

It’s a couple of days after he submits his assignment when Daniel receives a frantic text from Jisung after he gets out of bed, sending his sleep hazed mind into a blurry mess. Daniel picks up his phone at the ‘ping’ and unlocks it, squinting at Jisung’s message.

[10.17am] Mother Yoon: KANG DANIEL  
[10.18am] Mother Yoon: I forgot to mention :( It’s your lover boy’s birthday tomorrow… You need to do something special  
[10.19am] Daniel: Wait what  
[10.19am] Daniel: Wait fuck why didn’t I know  
[10.19am] Daniel: How will I do everything in one day please kill me  
[10.20am] Mother Yoon: I’m helping you  
[10.21am] Mother Yoon: 20 mins… Meet me downstairs and bring Sungwoon please

Twenty minutes and one usage of desperate puppy eyes (“Please, hyung, I’ll die if you don’t help me out!”) later, Daniel’s at the entrance of his apartment block waiting for Jisung, with a very sleepy and unhappy Sungwoon in tow.  
“I’m only doing this so you can get a boyfriend,” Sungwoon yawns, Daniel beams.  
Jisung rushes in a couple of minutes later, apologizing for being late and slinging an arm around Sungwoon’s shoulder.  
“We’re gonna throw him a party, not a surprise one like Minhyun’s though,” Jisung says. “We told him and he said he didn’t need one, but Minhyun and I are highly persuasive.”  
“So what are you getting him?” Sungwoon asks. Daniel lets his shoulders sag in defeat.  
“I… don’t know,” Daniel huffs. “I don’t even really know what he likes?”  
“Don’t think too much about it, Niel,” Sungwoon waves him off. “Ong-ie isn’t picky, and he seems to like you to a point where you could give him freeze dried dog shit and he’d be at most slightly disgusted.”  
“Thanks,” Daniel says, and he isn’t sure if it’s sarcastic or genuine.  
They walk to a nearby mall, and Jisung’s popping up random gift ideas but none really seem to click well in Daniel’s head. He wants to get Seongwoo something special – something that’d trigger thoughts of Daniel in his mind. (‘A vibrator!’ is a passing thought in Daniel’s head because they’re, well, sex buddies, but he swats it away because that would be highly inappropriate for Seongwoo to open in front of his friends. Maybe Christmas instead.)  
They pass by multiple shops, and Sungwoon points out multiple teddy bears all much larger than him in size. Daniel considers that as a gift, because Seongwoo would look cute all snuggled up against one, but decides to get something a little more sentimental instead.  
“Hey, do you think Ong wears jewelry?” Jisung asks when they pass by an accessories store, and like cogs, something clicks in Daniel’s head.  
“Oh! He does!” Daniel grins, and pads into the store.

(“Fuck, my bracelet broke,” Daniel remembers Seongwoo whining. He’d seen Seongwoo wearing that thin silver bracelet a lot, and he wondered about its significance.  
“Is it important?” Daniel asked, and Seongwoo rubbed at his nape sheepishly.  
“Not really? I mean Minhyun got it for me when we were, you know, but I’ve always seen it as a friendship memento. I only liked it because it was pretty,” Seongwoo said, playing with the snapped chain of the silver bracelet in his hand.)

And there it is – Daniel now feels the need to make sure he gets Seongwoo a prettier bracelet than the one Minhyun got him before. (Petty, he knows, but it’s not like he’d ever admit it.) Daniel looks over the custom section for bracelets.  
He looks over the different options for chains, and his choice of colour had been pretty certain from the start. He thinks that a rose gold chain would look pretty around the pale skin of Seongwoo’s wrist, matching the light blush that sometimes dusts his cheeks and the tips of his ears.  
Daniel looks over at the charms and maybe he spends too long deciding because he can hear the impatient tap of Jisung’s shoes against the marble. The saleslady also seems to think that Daniel’s been confronted with a hard choice, as she emerges from behind the counter and makes her way over.  
“For your girlfriend?” They lady smiles, and Daniel kinda wants to say ‘it’s 2017, people are gay’, out loud but he just offers her a smile in return instead.  
“Um not really, but for someone special, yes,” Daniel says.  
“Oh, it’s complicated then?” She doesn’t meet Daniel’s eyes once, but registers the slim, rose gold chain in Daniel’s hand and seems to have made her choice.  
“How about this? Doesn’t scream ‘I’m in love with you’ in her face, but it has a message,” the lady hands him a thin, small heart-shaped charm, to be attached at the clasp of the bracelet. The charm was the same rose gold colour, and Daniel could imagine how pretty the bracelet would look on Seongwoo already.  
Daniel nods excitedly and grins – the lady may have jumped to her own conclusions but her choice was pretty good so Daniel could look past that. She offers him the option to engrave something on the heart, and Daniel settles with a simple letter ‘S’.  
The lady tells him to collect it the next day and that it would be ready before noon, and Daniel leaves with a satisfied feeling in his gut because he knows his bracelet is prettier than Minhyun’s. Take that Hwang Minhyun, it’s over for you, Daniel thinks.

Daniel wakes up on Seongwoo’s birthday and stresses over the birthday text to send him. He thinks of something casual like “Happy birthday hyung”, to seem cool and not overly invested, but Daniel knows that’s a hundred percent unlike him. He wonders if a dirty text would count as a good birthday text, but he decides against that without much thought. Ultimately, Daniel sends him a text ten minutes later, a dirty joke incorporated and an Apeach emoticon attached.

[9.11am] Daniel: Hyung! Happy birthday~ You’re becoming an old man, your stamina is most definitely dropping and that means I’ll have to be on top more :P  
[9.15am] ong: jesus christ niel  
[9.16am] ong: thanks but i did not expect this slander at 9 in the morning on my special day  
[9.16am] Daniel: Sorry hyung, but I’m bad at lying :-) See you tonight!  
[9.16am] ong: see you, niel

Later that day, Daniel heads back to the mall alone to collect Seongwoo’s gift. The same saleslady is there again, and she hands Daniel the bracelet in a pink velvet box, topped with a cream coloured ribbon and placed into a baby pink bag. Daniel nearly laughs at this, because Seongwoo’s always rambling about how gender is a social construct and that pink isn’t only for girls – he’d definitely love a pink bracelet in a pink box, in a pink bag.  
“Go get her!” The saleslady cheers him on and Daniel finds this funny, and lets a giggle tumble from his mouth.  
“Thanks,” Daniel mumbles. He considers correcting her, but decides not to.

Seongwoo’s party is in two hours and Daniel stuck in front of his closet, searching for a decent outfit while standing amidst a mess of clothes he’d already tried on and rejected. God, the party’s held at Jisung’s house for fuck’s sake, why’s he even caring so much?  
“Niel!” Sungwoon calls from the living room. “We’re leaving in ten minutes, hurry the fuck up!”  
“Hyung, help,” Daniel’s voice falters a little at the end. Daniel hears Sungwoon’s loud, exaggerated sigh of disapproval and the pad of his socked feet on the ground before his head emerges past Daniel’s doorframe.  
“Jesus, it’s like a tsunami tried to wipe you out,” Sungwoon wrinkles his nose.  
“Hyung, please, I’m actually stuck,” Daniel whines and Sungwoon gives in.  
“Okay, but you’re not going to complain about what I give you or I’ll leave without you,” Sungwoon flips through Daniel’s abandoned clothes on the floor, and the younger agrees with much reluctance because he’s not the one with the car. Sungwoon cards through the mess a little more, and fishes out a white button down and smoothens out the wrinkles. He tosses it to Daniel and tells him to roll the sleeves up, then to wear it with black pants.  
“It’s hot,” Sungwoon winks at him when he’s about to leave and let Daniel get changed. Daniel just replies with a loud “we don’t support incest in this house!” before throwing the nearest shirt at Sungwoon.  
When Daniel emerges from his pigsty of a room, Sungwoon raises his eyebrows.  
“In the least creepy way possible, you actually look really good,” Sungwoon seems somewhat proud of his choice. “Ong’s gay ass is gonna love this.”  
Daniel ignores him, but hopes that Sungwoon is telling the truth. He remembers to grab Seongwoo’s gift on the way out.

At Jisung’s place, Jisung and Minhyun are attempting to put a banner up on the wall. Minhyun’s standing back and making sure it’s straight, and he keeps telling Jisung to shift it to the point the poor man’s arms are about to break off. Jaehwan’s eating his weight in snacks, and Sungwoon has to swat his Dorito crumb coated fingers away from the snack bowl before he devours them all. Daniel helps with filling up some snack bowls and he takes his time with his task to kill time.  
At some point, Seongwoo enters the house, and no one (even Daniel) notices till he pops up behind Jisung and scares the living shit out of him.  
“When did you even enter?” Jisung asks, and Seongwoo just flashes him a peace sign.  
“I’m stealthy –like a ninja, heh,” he laughs.  
Sungwoon rushes to the dining table to light the candles on the cake, then he counts a loud ‘1, 2, 3!’ before everyone breaks out in a birthday song for Seongwoo, complete with claps and well-timed cheers. Jisung rushes to put a party hat on Seongwoo’s head, and he grins and pulls the elastic under his chin by himself. Seongwoo smiles brighter than the sun as he claps along to the song. His smile parts into a grin, then a laugh. Daniel’s probably stuck in a very obvious trance, but his brain turns to goo in the presence of Seongwoo’s rosy cheeks and gorgeous smile. And thank god, Daniel is jolted out of his state when everyone cheers at Seongwoo making a wish and blowing the candles out. Minhyun rushes off with the cake after volunteering to cut it, and Jaehwan says he wants to help (that won’t and most definitely can’t end well, Daniel thinks, but doesn’t say).

At some point, they bring out the alcohol, and Sungwoon’s already getting ready to drink himself silly. Daniel decides on beer, and grabs a bottle from the cold box under the table. While they drink, Jaehwan announces that he’s going to give Seongwoo his gift, so everyone crowds around while Minhyun looks like he’s going to die of embarrassment. Jaehwan’s a little tipsy, and stumbles a bit while trying to hand Seongwoo his box. Seongwoo just watches on and laughs. He takes the box from Jaehwan and shakes it a little.  
“Oh, it’s light?” Seongwoo muses, and Minhyun has his face in his right hand.  
“Open it!” Jaehwan urges him. He seems awfully proud of his gift.  
“It’s a… um, polaroid picture?” Seongwoo says.  
“Not just any polaroid pic,” Jaehwan shifts into a pose. “It’s one of me.”  
“What,” the monosyllable literally tumbles out of everyone’s mouths. Seongwoo looks at Minhyun in confusion.  
“Just so all of you know, I told him it was a bad idea,” Minhyun says.  
“Don’t see it,” Jaehwan sticks his tongue out. “It’s artistic.”  
Seongwoo just ends up laughing; he places the polaroid back into the box it came from. Minhyun hands him a gift later, and it’s a baby blue knitted sweater with a striped V-neck. Sungwoon then gives him a $40 gift card for a clothing store and says he’s bad at buying gifts. Jisung gives him a pair of cufflinks.  
At this point, Daniel realizes it’s his turn. He shouldn’t be this nervous, but his fingers get sweaty and tighten around the bag anyway.  
“Kang Daniel, it’s your turn,” Jisung’s tone is suggestive, and Jaehwan gives a ‘wooooo~’ to add to the mood. Sungwoon thinks it’s funny to hum the tune to careless whisper out loud.  
Daniel laughs nervously, and his eyes dart to Seongwoo who has his gaze shifted away. Seongwoo chuckles at that, but chews on his bottom lip, seemingly nervous. Hesitantly, Daniel steps towards Seongwoo, arm outstretched.  
“Happy birthday, hyung,” Daniel flashes the grin he uses a lot, and Seongwoo takes the present from him with a ‘thank you’. He undoes the pink ribbon that seals the bag, then fishes out the pink box inside. Opening the box, Seongwoo’s lips curl up into a smile.  
“It’s so pretty, thank you Niel,” Seongwoo beams. Daniel melts.  
“You… You’re welcome,” Daniel flushes, and Jisung starts cooing while Sungwoon pretends to throw up.  
Seongwoo starts putting the bracelet on and Daniel helps him, fastening the clasp for him. Then Seongwoo looks up and meets Minhyun’s eyes.  
“You’ve been replaced, Hwang Minhyun,” Seongwoo states, and Minhyun (strangely) laughs so hard he has to bend over. Daniel wants to give Minhyun the middle finger. (Poor Minhyun, Daniel knows, he never did anything but Daniel wants his head anyway.)

The party ends with Sungwoon getting so drunk he’s literally rolling on the floor. Jisung offers to take Sungwoon home, but when Daniel offers to do it since they live together Jisung claps a hand over his mouth and insists that he does it. Once Jisung leaves, Minhyun’s dragging Jaehwan out of the house too.  
“Um,” Daniel starts. “Did Jisung just leave us alone? In his house?”  
Seongwoo seems to react a beat slower, literally chortling when he realizes that Jisung literally sacrificed the safety of his house just to try and leave Seongwoo and Daniel alone.  
“My place?” Seongwoo asks, and of course, Daniel agrees in a heartbeat.

On Seongwoo’s couch, Daniel’s got Seongwoo on his lap as the elder kisses his way up his neck, letting his fingers ghost over Daniel’s abs under his shirt.  
“By the way,” Seongwoo breathes between kisses. “I’m topping tonight.”  
Daniel grins, “okay, you sure you’re up for that, old man?”  
“Shut up, Niellie,” Seongwoo’s got a fond smile on his face and no bite in his voice.  
“Make me,” Daniel teases, puckering his lips and making kissy noises while Seongwoo just rolls his eyes and leans in for another kiss.

(Seongwoo does end up exhausting his stamina midway, and Daniel has to ride him so his legs don’t give out.)

 

Slowly, the weather gets colder, and Daniel only grows fonder. At some point he’d stopped denying that he was hopelessly fond of Ong Seongwoo. The day he’d had his epiphany of sorts, he’d nearly broken down Jisung’s front door, breath uneven and tears streaking his cheeks.  
Of course, Jisung, motherly and kind, had wiped Daniel’s tears and calmed him down. Daniel felt better, and Jisung just marveled at how Daniel could just entirely ignore the feeling for that long.

It’s somewhere in December, nothing much has changed (including Daniel’s one-sided rivalry with Hwang Minhyun), but Seongwoo and Daniel have been meeting up outside (“Not for dates, it’s not like that,” Daniel says, and Jisung literally has to hold on to a surface so he doesn’t pass out from rolling his eyes to the back of his head too hard.) more often.  
And like usual, Seongwoo picks Daniel up from the entrance to his apartment lobby. It’s getting cold, and today Seongwoo’s bundled up in a black wool coat and a pastel pink scarf. Pink suits him too well, Daniel thinks – he literally has to hold back his squeals when he sees Seongwoo waiting for him, face buried in his scarf and hands deep into his pockets.  
“You dressed warmly today,” Daniel greets Seongwoo like that, and Seongwoo grins. Half his face is buried behind his scarf, but his eyes crinkle and Daniel’s heart flutters at the red that tints the tips of his nose and ears.  
“Let’s go,” Seongwoo says, and links their arms together. (They don’t hold hands, because only couples do that.)

They visit a Christmas market – Christmas is slightly over two weeks away, but Daniel argues that once Halloween’s over, Christmas begins.  
There’s a large Christmas tree in the middle of the market, and Daniel runs over and makes Seongwoo snap a picture for him.  
“Hyung! Let’s take a picture together,” Daniel beckons Seongwoo over with a wave of his hand, and Seongwoo walks towards him, chuckling. Daniel extends his arm to take a selfie with the Christmas tree, and Seongwoo leans his head into his shoulder. Daniel felt cold before, but now his skin is covered in warm tingles.  
“Hungry?” Seongwoo asks. Daniel nods, grabs his hand and pulls him to the nearest store.

They end up spending the whole day at the Christmas market, buying useless trinkets and trying the oddest snacks. Daniel keeps holding onto Seongwoo’s hand, and there’s a grin on his face he doesn’t think he’ll be able to wipe off.  
It’s around ten when they decide to head home, and just as they’re about to head off, Daniel catches a glimpse of a white flake falling from the sky and he’s so close to crying out of excitement.  
“Seongwoo hyung!” Daniel beams, “It’s snowing!”  
The snowfall grows heavier, and Daniel lets his eyes settle on Seongwoo – hair and scarf littered with flecks of snow, cheeks and nose rosy from the cold. Seongwoo exhales when he smiles, breath forming white wisps of smoke in the air.  
“You look pretty like this, hyung,” Daniel doesn’t really have a filter, and he wants to slap himself once those words tumble out of his mouth. Seongwoo turns, a little taken aback, but his lips curve upwards anyway.”  
“Thanks Niellie, you too,” Seongwoo says.  
His eyelashes flutter when he speaks – a pretty contrast against his pale skin. God, Daniel really wants to kiss him right now. Then, of course, the sheer force of willpower alone isn’t enough to overcome Ong Seongwoo looking, well, kissable. Daniel uses his index finger to push Seongwoo’s scarf downwards, revealing cherry red lips and blushed cheeks. He leans forward, and nearly pulls back in fear that Seongwoo will back away. The elder, however, stays still, so Daniel takes it as a signal to proceed.  
When their lips collide, everything becomes warm – even the snow that lands on Daniel’s face. Seongwoo’s lips are chapped, but Daniel doesn’t mind because Seongwoo’s fingers are now gripping onto his shoulders, and everything is so warm. The kiss doesn’t last long, because Daniel pulls away with a sheepish expression, and Seongwoo looks a little redder than before (not that Daniel can really tell).  
The walk back to Daniel’s apartment is enveloped in a comfortable silence. Daniel’s still holding Seongwoo’s hand, so the fuzzy feeling remains. Right now, Daniel really wants to confess, but then decides that it can wait.  
He wonders if they’ll talk about the kiss eventually – they’ve kissed a lot, but they’d never done so in a situation like this before. Daniel wants them to, but he decides to let the older bring it up instead.  
They arrive at Daniel’s apartment, Daniel tells Seongwoo to text him when he’s home safely.  
“Hey, Daniel,” Seongwoo says before leaving. “It’s not time yet, but happy birthday.”  
Daniel smiles, “thanks, hyung.”  
Seongwoo smiles back, then wraps Daniel in a chaste hug before leaving.

At 12am, Daniel gets a happy birthday text from Seongwoo.

[12.00am] ong hyung <3: happy birthday niellie!  
[12.00am] ong hyung <3: i must be the first to wish you

Daniel’s reply is embarrassingly eager.

[12.00am] kang choding: Thanks hyung!!! Sorry I can’t see you for the next few weeks :”(  
[12.02am] ong hyung <3: it’s okay niellie~ have fun back in busan  
[12.02am] ong hyung <3: say hi to peter and rooney for me  
[12.03am] kang choding: I will, good night hyung!

At 6am, Daniel packs a luggage and jumps on a train back to Busan to celebrate his birthday and Christmas with his family. He’s bummed that he can’t celebrate with Seongwoo and his friends, but he hasn’t seen his mother in awhile anyway.  
His mum greets him with a warm hug, and he does end up having a lot of fun with his family and old friends, but his thoughts are still stuck at ‘seongwoo, seongwoo, seongwoo’, and he can’t seem to shake them away.  
His mum asks him if he’s gotten a boyfriend, but he gives her a bitter smile and she doesn’t pry further.

When he returns to Seoul, he sees Seongwoo again, and Seongwoo gives him a gift. “It’s a Christmas-cum-birthday gift,” he says, and Daniel thanks him with the tightest hug he’s ever given. Daniel opens to gift later at home – it’s a bracelet that somewhat matches the one he’d given Seongwoo previously. Daniel doesn’t wear accessories, but makes a mental note to wear it everyday anyway.

Before Daniel knows it, winter break is over, and he has to return to school. He’d gotten used to being on break, and now assignment after assignment is being piled onto him and Daniel feels suffocated because he’s deprived of seeing Seongwoo for a while.  
Then, Daniel finally clears the assignments, but hears that his dance club is getting closed down due to the lack of funding and finally – the weight of his burdens and stress collapse on him, and it gets too heavy for him to bear.  
Of course, his first instinct is to message Seongwoo, to tell him that he was going over.  
Daniel doesn’t know if Seongwoo ever replied, but he’s at Seongwoo’s doorstep before he knows it. Seongwoo answers the door, and Daniel doesn’t really know what comes over him – he practically launches himself at Seongwoo, crashing their lips together, stepping into Seongwoo’s apartment.  
“Wow, you’re eager today, Niel,” Seongwoo laughs, pulling Daniel’s shirt up and over his head.  
Daniel doesn’t reply, and misses the puzzled look that crosses Seongwoo’s face. He’s so desperate to find a distraction that he can’t even focus on Seongwoo’s whimpers that he usually relishes in, and finds no excitement in Seongwoo’s fingertips digging into the side of his hips. Daniel kisses up Seongwoo’s neck, and Seongwoo leans back to give him more access, fingers raking through Daniel’s hair. Daniel grinds his hips up, rushed and frantic, but there are tears prickling at his eyes suddenly, spilling out onto Seongwoo’s lap.  
“Hey, hey, Niel,” Seongwoo’s expression morphs into concern, and Daniel can’t bring himself to stop the flow of his tears.  
“Niellie, what happened?” Seongwoo cups Daniel’s cheeks, but Daniel’s body is practically shaking with sobs, chest heaving. Seongwoo just pulls Daniel into his arms, letting him cry into his shirt, tears soaking through the cloth.  
When Daniel calms down, he feels another twist in his gut.  
“Oh, god, hyung,” Daniel shifts so that Seongwoo slides off his lap, getting up and putting his shirt on. “I wasted your time, sorry you had to see that.” Daniel’s about to walk out of the door, but Seongwoo’s got a vice grip around his wrist, tugging him back.  
“Hey, Kang Daniel,” Seongwoo frowns. “I’m here for you, you can tell me what happened.” Daniel flushes, and hesitates before taking a seat on the sofa again. Seongwoo leaves and comes back with a glass of water for Daniel. He takes a seat, and then beckons Daniel to tell him what happened. Daniel starts off wary, but his worries are pouring out of him one by one and Seongwoo just listens on, nodding his head and giving Daniel’s hand a squeeze at appropriate timings. Daniel ends up letting his insecurity that Seongwoo and Minhyun still have feelings for each other slip, but Seongwoo listens to that, too, without judgment.  
When Daniel’s done, his cheeks flush red, and his breathing’s a little uneven. Seongwoo just hugs him again.  
“Kang Daniel,” Seongwoo starts. “Don’t worry, I promise you that it’ll all be okay.”  
“Thanks,” Daniel mumbles into his shirt, and Seongwoo threads his fingers through Daniel’s hair.  
“Also, I don’t have feelings for Minhyun, and he most definitely doesn’t like me in that way,” Seongwoo says; Daniel hums.  
“You know Minhyun and Jaehwan are dating, right?” Seongwoo muses. In response, Daniel springs away from Seongwoo’s embrace so fast he nearly got whiplash.  
“What?” Daniel practically screams. “How the fuck did I not notice?”  
Everything seems so obvious now – from the extra intimate physical contact to the flirting – oh god, Kang Daniel was too busy sending death stares to Minhyun to notice that he was dating someone that wasn’t Ong Seongwoo.  
“I can’t believe you didn’t realize,” Seongwoo laughs, and Daniel really doesn’t know what to say. He feels so fucking bad, because he’s probably sent one too many glare Minhyun’s way – the poor man deserved none of that.  
Daniel has yet to bring up the kiss, Seongwoo too, and Daniel thinks that they should talk about it soon. He’s afraid that he’s overthinking and that Seongwoo sees it as nothing different from what they usually do.  
He doesn’t bring it up that day either, though he’d considered it. They fall asleep that night on Seongwoo’s bed, Seongwoo’s arms tight around Daniel’s waist.

After that, Daniel falls into a deeper crisis with his emotions. He feels himself falling deeper, and his feelings for Seongwoo are evolving too quickly for him to comprehend.  
“Just confess to him,” Jisung says, concerned. “He likes you too much.”  
“No, it doesn’t work like that, hyung,” Daniel groans, lowering his body so he can lie face down on the table. “It’s not that easy.”  
“Hey, Kang Daniel, have you seen the way he looks at you?” Jisung pretends to gag as he speaks. “It’s nauseating, seriously.”  
“He doesn’t like me,” Daniel hisses.  
“Are you seriously fucking with me right now,” Jisung hisses back, completed with a glower.  
“I am fucking serious, hyung,” Daniel groans.  
“Okay, then you’re a dense idiot,” Jisung says. “If he doesn’t like you at least one percent then I’m a fucking rock.”  
“Hyung,” Daniel whines, grabbing Jisung’s sleeve and swinging it around.  
“Niel, you’re an adult,” Jisung swats his hand away.  
“You’re supposed to help me deal with my feelings,” Daniel huffs, and Jisung is about to pick up the nearest pencil, stab Daniel, then himself.  
“Okay, fine, but you can’t call me old-fashioned,” Jisung smiles and Daniel nods. “Life’s about taking chances, so just do it when you can because you can never be a hundred percent certain of the results.”  
“That’s… pretty solid advice actually,” Daniel answers after pondering on it for a while. Jisung just gives him a smile that reads ‘told you’.

And that’s how Daniel finds himself sitting in his room, crushed up notebook pages littering his bed and floor. He’s got no idea how to do the whole confession thing, so he’s trying to plan things out. That, coupled with his horrific memory, has led to an attempt to plan his confession out like a PowerPoint presentation script. To say the least, his attempts are pretty futile.  
Daniel feels like he’s examined every possible way to phrase ‘I like you’, from a ‘hi I want more than to fuck you’ to a 10 page essay with a bibliography in APA format on why Seongwoo should accept his love.  
Then, Daniel thinks he’s got the perfect script that may either open a path for a whole new romantic experience, or create a huge fucking roadblock that will leave him holed up in misery for three weeks. Either way, he hears Jisung at the back of his head nagging him to take chances in life.

Then there’s step two in this whole process – gathering the courage to make Seongwoo listen to his confession, and hopefully persuade him to accept (is it too late to write a persuasive essay with both supporting and opposing points of view now?).  
He thinks of the ways he could approach this. He could call Seongwoo out and confess in public, or show up unannounced at his apartment or workplace.  
Workplace is probably the worst idea, but it drives him forward the most because Seongwoo works in a cat café, for fuck’s sake. As if he couldn’t be more perfect, Daniel thinks.  
Daniel imagines Seongwoo in an apron and playing with cats (and with cat ears on too, but that’s unnecessary), and suddenly showing up at Seongwoo’s workplace unannounced sounds like an amazing idea. (If he gets rejected, at least he gets to chill with some cats and drown his sorrows away in shitty food and loose fur.)

Two whole days later, Daniel’s standing in front of the cat café Seongwoo works at, sweaty fingers tight around his confession script. He inhales sharply when he pushes the café’s glass door open.  
Seongwoo’s mopping the floor, brown apron hanging from his neck and cat ears balanced on his head. There’s a cat perched on a shelf, eyeing Daniel somehow warily.  
“Hi, sorry we’re clos- oh,” Seongwoo stops mid sentence when he catches Daniel in front of him. “What are you doing here?”  
“Oh, um, hi,” Daniel is stupid and he’s painfully aware of it right now.  
“How did you know I was here? Unless you didn’t come to find me?” Seongwoo tilts his head slightly, slightly cat-like with those brown kitty ears on his head. Daniel has to stop his hard from beating so hard it hammers right out of his chest and breaks his ribs in the process.  
“No! I was here for you, and a um… bird told me?” By ‘bird’ Daniel means Jisung, and by ‘I’ Daniel means ‘bitch who can’t fucking chill around this man’.  
“Something’s up with you, Niel,” Seongwoo laughs, and Daniel laughs too, but nervously.  
“Um, nah, just a little… queasy today,” Daniel winces at his own word choice. Seongwoo, though, doesn’t.  
“Oh? I’ll get you a glass of water then, sit,” Seongwoo instructs, then pads off into the backroom, leaving Daniel, his mop, and the cat on the shelf behind.  
Seongwoo returns later with the water, cat ears gone. Daniel’s more than disappointed, but thanks Seongwoo for the water anyway.  
“So, did you come to tell me anything?” Seongwoo’s mopping the floor again, and Daniel had nearly forgotten his script now tucked into the back of his pocket. Daniel decides that the cat on the shelf wouldn’t be of enough comfort if he were to get rejected by Seongwoo right then, so he just shakes his head.  
“Nope, just wanted to see you,” Daniel says, and Seongwoo doesn’t reply, but his lips twitch up lightly into a smile.

After Daniel chickened out the first time, he’s filled with some newly formed determination to succeed the second time. He’s about to leave his apartment, but Jisung stops him by blocking the door with his foot.  
“All the best, my child,” Jisung grins. “I’m so proud of you.”  
“Um, thanks?” Daniel pats Jisung on the shoulder.  
“Hey, go get him,” Sungwoon calls out from his spot on the couch.  
They’re treating it like Daniel’s their son about to head off for a huge sports match, but he doesn’t really question it. Jisung hands him an apple from the fruit bowl on the dining table on the way out and says it’s for encouragement. Daniel doesn’t question it either, and just puts it in his bag and makes a note to eat it later. His friends are… odd, to say the least.

Then, Daniel makes it to Seongwoo’s apartment, script in hand and heart prepared to either finally find love or send itself off a cliff into a steaming hot pit of lava. He knocks on Seongwoo’s door, and hears Seongwoo’s footsteps make their way over. Then the doorknob clicks, and the single ounce of confidence Daniel had before suddenly crumbled. Daniel’s hands are shaking and sweaty now.  
“Niellie!” Seongwoo grins, and Daniel’s getting even more jittery at the thought he may never see a grin like that again if this doesn’t work out. “Come in!”  
Daniel, wordlessly, shakes off his shoes and shuffles in, fingers curling together as some sort of coping mechanism.  
“Okay, um, Seongwoo hyung, bear with me please,” Daniel mumbles, trembling fingers working to unfold the script he’d so meticulously prepared a week ago. He can barely even remember half of what he practically vomited into his two page long confession.  
Seongwoo waits patiently, but his eyes flicker with confusion.  
When the script is unfolded, Daniel scans the words, and immediately decides that it’s inadequate. He decides fuck it – it’s now or never, and crumples the script up into a ball, stuffing it into his bag.  
The nerves are so bad the tingle of fear spreads all the way to his toes and fingertips. He darts his tongue out to lick his lips, then inhales. He can feel Seongwoo’s gaze on him, but he pushes that out of his head.  
“Seongwoo hyung,” Daniel stops looking at his fingernails and lifts his head to meet eyes with Seongwoo. “I need to tell you something very important, and I’m sorry if it’s bad.”  
Seongwoo nods, beckoning him to go on.  
“You are important to me, and you matter a lot to me,” Daniel tries to hide the tremble in his voice, but the tone is unstable anyway. “Everyday, I think about you at least once, and it’s not just about… physical things.”  
Seongwoo’s knowing eyes makes Daniel think that he’s already sensed where his speech was going, but his hard expression makes Daniel wonder how he feels about it.  
“Remember when we kissed at the Christmas market? I was so happy that you reciprocated I felt so warm even though I wasn’t dressed properly,” Daniel feels a little more confident now. “Remember when you get mad when I scolded you for skipping meals too often? I felt sorry about it and I’m still sorry that I never got to apologise for acting so close when you may not have been comfortable.”  
“There are so many memories of the past few months we’ve spent together that I can recall from the top of my head right now,” Daniel intertwines his fingers together. “And all these memories are so crystal clear – like they just surfaced from yesterday.”  
“What I’m saying is, Seongwoo hyung, I remember all the times we’ve spent together so well even though my memory’s shit because I treasure you, and I remember every word you’ve told me, and so,” Daniel doesn’t know how to say the three most important words, but he’s suddenly struck with an idea that could possibly ruin the confession he’d just poured out – but since when had Daniel and Seongwoo been so nice and proper? Daniel decides that it isn’t too bad of an idea in the end.  
He leaves his sentence hanging, and walks towards his bag and reaches his hand in, feeling for the smooth and round fruit that Jisung handed to him earlier. Seongwoo looks like he still hasn’t gathered the correct words, eyes trailing after him but mind in a haze.  
“So,” Daniel fishes the apple out of his bag and strokes it with his thumb. He inhales, then pulls his arm back and launches the apple at Seongwoo. Unfortunately for Seongwoo, he doesn’t snap out of his daze quickly enough to avoid the oncoming fruit, and the apple hits him in the shoulder, tumbling onto the floor.  
“Niel, what the fuck,” Seongwoo looks amused, but also very confused. “And here I thought that you were con-“  
“I was, hyung,” Daniel cuts him off, mildly disappointed that his trick didn’t work instantly. “To um, prove my point… remember the time you recited ancient Greece facts to me?”  
Seongwoo looks puzzled, and his brain takes awhile to process the information before his mouth forms into an ‘o’.  
“Oh my god, Kang Daniel,” Seongwoo practically launches himself at Daniel, throwing his arms around him and standing on his toes. “You actual fucking idiot.”  
“Does this count as acceptance?” Daniel asks, chin rested on Seongwoo’s shoulder.  
“Fuck of course, you have no idea how insane you drive me, Niel,” Seongwoo pulls away from the hug, and before Daniel has a chance to break out into a grin, Seongwoo cups his cheeks and smashes their lips together.  
They’re laughing into the kiss and Seongwoo’s teeth are kind of hurting Daniel’s lips, but Daniel’s heart is bubbling with mirth to the point he really doesn’t give a shit. He tangles his fingers in Seongwoo’s hair, and Seongwoo pulls away with a shit-eating grin on his lips and Daniel presses a kiss to his cheek.  
“Boyfriends?” Seongwoo asks.  
“Yeah,” Daniel confirms, then leans in to kiss Seongwoo again.

(Seongwoo does wind up getting access to Daniel’s handwritten confession script, and his toes are nearly curling at the cheesiness of it.  
“I prefer the apple method a little better,” Seongwoo teases, snaking an arm around Daniel’s waist.  
“Yeah, okay,” Daniel grins. “If I ever propose that’s the way I’m doing it – ring inside the apple and all.”  
Seongwoo just laughs, and buries himself deeper into Daniel’s side.

Daniel does also end up apologizing to MInhyun for sending him death glares every time they saw each other, and Jaehwan just laughs so hard at the reason he has trouble breathing.)

**Author's Note:**

> hi!! this is my first of (hopefully) many fics to come on ao3 wow haha i hope it was okay i tried to use my very limited amount of vocabulary to water this ongniel tag lmao  
> follow me on twitter @ongjello!!! i don't post a lot but i will start posting fic previews and stuff there i guess wknwnwnw  
> also some of the text were meant to be italicised, but ao3 needs me to add the code and i am not about to skim through my 15k word long fic to do that hewqhjbw sorry!!!!!! also lmk is u want a minhwan spinoff bc i'm kinda into writing that LOL


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